Pokemon Journeys: A Teenage Adventue
by ffgtakhfan
Summary: James, a teenager from the Johto Region, is finally begining his adventure with his Cyndaquil and a girl called Crystal. However, he has to contend with Lyra, Kamon, and an organisation rising from the ashes... Warning, a few instances of strong language.
1. Chapter 1

_James felt nervous, as he always was when he was in front of a TV camera. He felt himself shake a little, but forced them away – he didn't want to appear weak in front of the League Champion himself, after all. That would just be plain embarrassing, considering who was watching. He could do nothing, however, about the sweat that was dripping down his back, making him even more uncomfortable then he already was. After all of the adventures that had been through these past couple of months, he wondered what he was getting so wound up about. He just wished that Lance would shut up already, so that they could both get this over and done with. James gave an internal sigh of relief when Lance announced to the whole crowed, but to James in particular: _

"_...__I, Lance, the Dragon Master, accept your challenge!" he yelled into the handless mike attached to his head as the 80,000 plus strong crowd screamed in admiration for the both of them. The screens on the four sides of the arena divided into two as the cameras did a tight shot of the two trainer's faces. James noticed that despite the terror and nervousness that clawed at him on the inside, threatening to bring on one of his panic attacks, he looked cool and collected, which helped to calm him down a little, and he smiled at that. He put his right hand on the six balls that were attached to his belt, and mentally said words of encouragement to them about the upcoming fight. _

"_Let the match begin," the referee on the sidelines said into his own microphone before blowing his whistle and bringing down the two flags._

_The match for the Championship of both Kanto and Johto had begun._

SC

A teenager of 18 was watching the documentary on his laptop detailing the lives behind the Gym Leaders and Elite 4 memberships when they had some time to spare, as well as detailing some of their background and histories. For example, he never knew that Brock often went to Mt. Moon in an attempt to find some rare fossils, nor that the Great Crasher Wake was originally born in Cianwood City, on the edge of the Johto Region. He knew he should have long been in bed and asleep, as he had a relatively early start the next day, but he never was good at doing that kind of thing. Besides, he was too excited to get any proper sleep.

James was just like any other kid from any other town or city from any other place in the world. He wished to be a Pokemon Trainer, and have his very own Pokemon to look after and keep as his own. However, his mother had refused to have any Pokemon in the house, and had actively prevented him from getting his licence for the past three years, ever since he was 15, the age that kids could first get one. He had often previously asked her why this was the case, but she had kept tight lipped about the matter and refused to divulge anything, so he had simply given up wondering in the end.

Despite this, or maybe because of it, he had found a ton of information and charts detailing the strengths and weaknesses of individual Pokemon, the types of moves that they would be able to master at different ability levels, places where they could be found and located, and much more besides. James' bedroom walls were covered with posters of various different types of Pokemon, including his favourite, Typhlosion. It just looked so strong and imposing, especially with the bright flames that were around the ruff of its neck. James knew instantly from a young age that that was the Pokemon that he was picking tomorrow. Or rather, its pre-evolved form, Cyndaquil.

James checked his watch and saw that it was well past 1:00 am in the morning, so he shut his laptop down, got undressed into his pyjamas and snuggled under the blanket for a restless night's sleep.

SC

The first thing that James felt the next morning was his mother shaking him before opening the blinds that covered his window, very nearly blinding him due to the sunlight that was pouring through. This wasn't helped by the fact that the light bounced off the many glossy posters and bright orange walls that pecked through the cracks. Once he rubbed his eyes to get rid of the annoying sleep dust and spots that had appeared before them, it took him a moment to realise what that meant.

"Shit," he shouted. He had clearly overslept, and was thus late for his appointment with Professor Elm. He checked the clock to see what time it was. 9:00 am. Yep, defiantly late, and he knew the Professor wasn't going to be best pleased. Although he was glad to see new trainers start their journey, he also had important business in and around the lab, as well as other Regions. James hastily threw off the twisted remains of the blanket that had managed to get tangled up around him, as well as his pyjamas and put on some pants and long shorts that were black and stopped just below his knees. Searching frantically through his draws, he finally managed to find the last remaining tee-shirt that wasn't either being washed or packed neatly in his relatively large backpack.

Him and his mother had spent the whole of the previous day packing, arguing other whether something was considered important for the upcoming journey or not. For example, James had wanted to take the laptop with him, arguing that he would be able to access a larger amount of information with it around. His mother, on the other hand, had argued that the laptop would be far too heavy and cumbersome to carry any great distance, and questioned what James would do once the power for it had run out, and he was out in the middle of the wilderness. He had shut up at that point, and had relented to his mother's overwhelming display of logic.

James shock his head at the memory, and got back to the task at hand. The tee-shirt was a plain black one, and on top of that, he put on a red woollen fleece that would help to keep him warm, although, looking out of the window, it didn't look like he would need it at the moment. And finally, to complete the look, he put on his favourite cap, which looked like the top half of an Ultra Ball, which he wore backwards. Currently, he didn't care that the quiff of his hair was under his hat rather than through the hole in the back of it.

After looking all around his room, including under the bed, he ran down the stairs, two at a time, all the while frantically looking for his backpack that he was sure that he had put at the end of his bed for easy access. Having searched thoroughly all around his bedroom, he was rummaging around in the living room when he felt the first signs of a panic attack coming on. He suddenly felt sick and light-headed, and ended up puking on the wooden floor before shaking uncontrollably. Luckily, his mother was next door in the kitchen. Having heard all of the commotion that was going on, she rushed on through to the living room, picking up two bags along the way. By this point, James had stopped vomiting, but was still shaking, abet less violently then before and was feeling faint. His mother carefully picked him up and moved him over to the black leather settee, where she handed him one of the plastic bags.

"Okay, remember what the doctor said before. Hold the bag over your mouth, and breathe in and out slowly but evenly," she said as she rubbed his back. James nodded as he did as she said, and eventually, he managed to calm down enough to stop shaking and the nausea to go away, although there were tears running down his face from the whole experience. He turned to face his mum, and wrapped her in a tight hug, continuing to cry freely as he did so, whilst she took off his hat and stroked his hair, like she used to when he was a lot younger. She heard the phone ringing in the hallway, but she managed to ignore it. When he eventually managed to stop crying, she asked him why he had had one of his panic attacks.

"I...I couldn't *hic* find my backpack," James replied between hiccupping. His mother looked at him with a look of sympathy.

"I'm sorry James, it was my fault. I took it downstairs when I woke you up to pack the fresh food supplies."

"That's alright, I understand," James responded. "But now, I'm even later for my appointment with Professor Elm," he continued, making him start to panic again. His mother noticed this, and handed him one of the plastic bags. He nodded in appreciation whilst his mother got up and retrieved a glass of water and two tablets that aimed to control the attacks from the kitchen. She went back into the living room and handed them to him, whilst also noticing that he had puked in the bag. He took the water and tablets from her, and swallowed them quickly. His mother sat down beside him, and put her hands on top of his.

"This is why I've prevented you from going on your Pokemon Journey. Having done it myself, I know that there are going to very, very tough times ahead of you, and I don't want you to have a panic attack every time something like this happens." James nodded slowly in understanding, having heard this kind of thing all before.

"I know that mum, but you can't exactly keep me confined to this town for the rest of my life. I'm officially an adult now, and I need some independence before I go stark raving mad," he countered before laughing out loud, whilst his mother simply smiled back at him.

"I know that, honey, but I'm just worried for your well-being – that's all," she said once James had stopped laughing. He moved in closer to hug her as he nodded.

"I know, I know, but if we go on like this, then it'll be yet another month wasted," he acknowledged as he hugged her tighter. His mother was the first to let go, and James shortly followed. They both stood up and whilst James sat back down again to put on his shoes and socks, his mum finished off the packing that she was previously doing. Once finished, she helped him put the one strap backpack on, handed him his mobile and wallet with a parting gift of £3,000, and hugged him one more time. James squirmed this time.

"Mum, you're embarrassing me," James said as he tried to wriggle out of her grip, and avoid being kissed by her at the same time.

She laughed. "Don't be such a baby. Who's going to notice you from the outside?" She did have a point, but it was the principle of the matter that counted. "Anyway," she continued, becoming serious again, "Remember to take two tablets at the beginning of each day, and to always buy more supplies then you think you'll need, whether that be food or Potions for your Pokemon. I've put the home number into your mobile, so you can call me at any time if you're worried about anything. Other than that, have fun on your journey," she rambled as James opened the door and stepped outside. She moved to stand in the doorframe and wave at James as he turned around and waved back. Once she had shut the door and had turned back around, he breathed a sigh of relief. Although he loved her as any child to a mother could, she was always worried about him, and that really got on his nerves sometimes.

Another thing that constantly got on his nerves was the person standing before him as he turned the corner into the next street.

Lyra. That one name was enough to send shivers down his spine.

Most people considered her to be cute enough. Chocolate brown eyes, ebony coloured hair, moderately sized bust, wearing denim overalls that didn't go halfway below her thigh, a medium length sleeved jumper and red shoes with plain white stockings pulled up past her knees. What wasn't there to like about her? Her personality for one. She had an arrogance the size of Goldenrod City, and a vindictive streak just as large. Being the niece of Professor Elm, she assumed to have absolute knowledge of each and every aspect of Pokemon that there was to know, although she had been shown up more than enough times at school for everybody in New Bark to know that this wasn't the case, despite her claims to the contrary. In her spare time, she attempted to seduce, and thus have sex with, the majority of the trainers that passed through the town on the way to the Pokemon League. Fortunately for both the town and the trainers in question, they always refused to. And everybody knew that because she had a gob that refused to shut up, and was so loud that James could swear that people in Kanto could hear her as well.

However, the biggest pain in the ass thing about her, in James' personal opinion at least – if she ever decided to pick on somebody about anything, then it was always James that she picked on first. Whether it was the quiff or the "horrendously awful" dress sense that he had enquired, she apparently always had something to go on. He didn't know how long that had been going on foe, or how it had got started in the first place, but he did know that he was thoroughly sick of it. So to meet her here now put an immediate damper on his spirits.

"Ohhh, hello there, _James_," she said, in a way that made him shiver all over. And not just from the way she had emphasised his name in the most cringe worthy way possible. She quickly saddled up to him, and he saw the copious amount of makeup that she had slapped onto her face, making her look more like a doll then any real person. "What you doing?" she asked, wrapping her arm around his waist. He attempted to wriggle out of it as quickly as possible to try and get away from her. No such luck, as he noticed that people were beginning to stop and stare at the pair of them. _"Not that they would ever bother to help out," _James thought bitterly.

"Piss off," James answered back, still attempting to break free and escape from her. "It's none of your business what I'm up to," he continued. But she was having none of it.

"If I had to guess, I would say that you were going to my Uncle's lab to get your starter Pokemon. Am I right?" she asked, flashing her overly long eyelashes right into James' face. He struggled to not get poked in the eye with them.

"Again, none of your fucking business," he replied, his voice beginning to rise from immense irritation. Lyra evidently noticed this.

"Ohhh, aren't _we_ touchy today," she responded with a fake air of concern, before breaking into snickering. In the process, she somehow managed to snatch his backpack off his back, opened it up, and pour out all of the contents into the middle of the street, before full out laughing and skipping on her merry way. Naturally leaving James to deal with the mess that she had created. Now that the little display between the two of them was all over, the people who had stopped and stared previously began to get on with their own personal business.

James fell down onto the ground, not caring that he scrapped his palms on the pavement, and started to cry his eyes out. He had been looking forward to this day for the longest time, and now that bitch had to ruin it for him, utterly and totally. He thought back over his life thus far, trying to find one plausible reason why she acted that way, but he had no luck. Fortunately for him, his luck was about to change, as a man riding a large Arcanine, massive even for the species, headed his way. He stopped before James, got off the Arcanine's back, scratched it behind the ears, and turned to face James.

"What happened here then?" the man asked. James raised his head to look at the man, tears still streaming down his face. He was wearing a white lab coat with a red tee-shirt underneath, which said 'Professor Elm's Aides'. He evidently worked at the lab, but his dialect told James that he came from Kanto. James whipped the tears away from his eyes.

"Lyra," was all he had to say, and the Aide understood immediately what must have happened. He kindly helped James pack his stuff back into his backpack, and then offered him a ride on the Arcanine, which James gladly accepted without hesitation. On the way to the lab, James asked the man what he had been doing previously.

"Looking for you, as a matter of fact," the man answered. "Me and Professor Elm were beginning to worry as it was getting on a bit, so we looked up your number in the telephone directory and attempted to call you. However, there was no response, so I was sent out to find you. That was half an hour ago, so it's lucky that I found you so close to home, as that was my next destination," he continued as he patted the Arcanine on its head. "So, what kept you?" he asked, and by the time James had finished explaining the events of that morning, they had reached the lab, which was located on the outskirts of town.

"Ouch. Not exactly the best start to any day, let alone one as important as this," the man said. James nodded silently in agreement, simply wanting to put the whole incident behind him.

The two of them entered the lab, and whilst the aide went to the back of the lab, presumably to explain to Professor Elm the current situation, James had a quick look around. The lab itself was smaller than he had expected, although the fields that stretched onto Route 29 more than made up for that. There were numerous books lining the walls, the majority of which were about Pokemon breeding and grooming, including a few written by Professor Elm himself. There were a few gaps to allow for large windows that allowed plenty of light to stream through at all times of the day, as well as a spiraling staircase that James guess lead up to where the Professor's family lived. At the back of the lab, where the two people were currently talking, there was a machine that James recognized as the ones used in Pokemon Centers to heal both sick and injured Pokemon back to full health. Next to it, there was a capsule that he assumed contained the three starter Pokemon that he could pick from. He noticed that the aide was signaling to come to the back of the lab, so he did so.

"Tom here has told me everything. I'm sorry to hear about what happened with my niece," Elm said in an apologetic tone. "I'll make sure that she apologizes to you and makes it up," he finished. James scoffed internally. That was the last thing that Lyra would ever do – listen to any kind of authority. 

"Ummm, thanks, I guess," James said."But I just want to put the whole incident behind me and just pick my starter Pokemon."

"Of course, of course, we mustn't let a little incident like that make us unhappy. Now, please wait here a moment whilst I collect them," the Professor announced as he went over to the capsule that James had spotted earlier. A moment later, he was back with three Poke Balls.

"Now, before I show you the Pokemon within, there is something I have to tell you. The starter that you pick in a moment will most likely be the companion that you will have for the rest of your life. There is no going back and picking another starter later on. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" the Professor asked. James nodded, eager to get the process over and done with.

With that, the Professor released the Pokemon, one at a time. The first to appear was Chikorita, the Leaf Pokemon. It was a pale green colour, with a darker green leaf that was longer than the rest of the creature's body, to say the least, and necklace of buds around its short neck. James assumed that they were used for moves such as Razor Leaf and Vine Whip once the Pokemon gained enough experience, and that the leaf could provide shade when it got too hot. It had a surprisingly large head compared to the rest of its body, with large red eyes that appear to have no pupils. It had four short legs with a single nailed toe on each leg, and a small, stubby tail that appeared to have no practical purpose. Once it had fully materialized, it took in its surroundings, and then attempted to run away, apparently scared of the people that were looking down at it. It would have made a quick escape – if Tom hadn't grabbed it and held it tightly in his arms. It attempted to bite him and struggle to escape, but James could see that its teeth weren't fully developed yet, so it did little to no damage to the man.

The next Pokemon to be released was Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokemon. It looked like a small, bipedal blue crocodile with relatively large red spines running all the way down their back and tail, the one on their back being larger with additional ridges next to the back spines. Its head was, again, large, with much of the head's size made up of its snout and strong jaws filled with loads of sharp, pointy teeth, unlike Chikorita's. On its chest was a yellow, somewhat V-shaped pattern that extended to its arms, with a line bisecting the pattern at the middle. Totodile have five sharp claws and three toes. It clearly appeared to be a carnivorous hunter, at least when it was encountered in the wild. This one appeared to be no exception. As soon as it was released, it went straight for James' leg in an attempt to bite it off. Fortunately, Professor Elm still had the Poke Ball in his hand, so he recalled it rapidly. The Professor scratched the back of his head.

"Oppps, sorry about that James. If you picked that Pokemon, you would definitely have to vigorously train it just so that it wouldn't attack you on sight, let alone get it to listen to you or obey any of your commands." James wondered why such a Pokemon would even be considered as being given away to inexperienced beginner trainers, let alone actually put into practice. He put it to the back of his mind, however, and concentrated on the task at hand.

The final Pokemon that was released was the one that allowed James to make up his mind once and for all. That was Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokemon. Its fur was a light navy blue on top of its body, but a milky colour on the underside. The most distinguishing feature about it had to be the flames erupting from its back. Its eyes were closed, as it was obvious that it was the youngest of the three Pokemon given away. It had four red-colored spots on its back from which the flames erupt from. It lacked claws on its forelimbs, but has a single claw on each hind foot. In James' opinion, it was definitely the cutest of the three starters, especially once it stretched out, squealing out its name almost as a kind of yawn, and decided that the floor would make a nice comfy spot to take a nap on. Professor Elm looked James in the eye.

"So, James, which of these starters will you pick: Chikorita, Cyndaquil or Totodile? Remember, you can't change your mind later if you find that you can't handle the Pokemon in question."

"I wanna have Cyndaquil, Professor." James was very nearly bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Very well. Here is Cyndaquil's Poke Ball," Professor Elm said as he handed the red and white sphere to the eager young man. "Now, your first job as a trainer is to recall Cyndaquil back into the Poke Ball, so that I can scan it and add it to your Trainer Card."

James stared at the Poke Ball, wondering how he was supposed to recall Cyndaquil. He had seen it done plenty of times before on TV, but he wasn't sure how to do it himself. Tom noticed the confusion that was evidently apparent on his face. "I guess that you've never used a Poke Ball before, ehhh?" he questioned. James shook his head, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Okay, well, it's simple enough to grasp. All you have to do is aim the button at the Pokemon in question, and the Ball itself will do the rest for you." Knowing now what to do, James did what he was told, and a beam of red light appeared, heading straight for Cyndaquil. However, to everybody's amazement, the Pokemon in question managed to dodge the beam and run about the room. Professor Elm and Tom wondered what they should do.

"What should we do now?" James questioned. The two of them shrugged the shoulders.

"I don't know," the Professor responded after a long pause. "I guess that we should surround it and make sure that it doesn't have an escape route." It was the best idea that they had, so they set about putting it into action. James went in front of Cyndaquil, Poke Ball at the ready, whilst Tom and Professor Elm snuck up on the Pokemon, attempting to be as inconspicuous as possible. As soon as they were close enough, the two of them leapt at the Cyndaquil. However, despite its closed eyes, it must have noticed them coming up behind it, as it managed to scamper out of the way just in time, causing the Professor and Tom to crash into each other. At the same time, James aimed the Poke Ball again, but still managed to miss. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Professor, what if Cyndaquil doesn't like being in its Poke Ball? Maybe that's why it's avoiding our attempts to capture it," James explained. The Professor got off the floor, followed shortly afterwards by Tom, both of them rubbing their bruised heads whilst Cyndaquil was still running about the place, certainly not lacking any sort of energy. The Professor mulled the idea for a few moments before answering.

"Yes, yes, I suppose that is plausible," Professor Elm answered. "The only problem now is, it needs to be in its Poke Ball in order for me to register it onto your Trainer Card, so that other trainers know that it isn't merely a pet, for example, that you happened to bring along for the trip." The three of them thought through the possibilities. In the end, they decided that James should go up to it and tempt it with a delicious and nutritious Pokemon treat, and then reward it once it was released again. James noticed that Cyndaquil had managed to disappear whilst they had been talking, but easily found it again, hiding under the desk that Professor Elm's laptop rested on. The plan worked like a charm. Cyndaquil was sucked into the Poke Ball, scanned into the computer, and then released again as quickly as possible. If possible, the cute Pokemon had a look of dissatisfaction and annoyance on its face, but that completely disappeared once it had been rewarded with another Pokemon treat by James. Once Professor Elm had done everything that he had needed to do on the laptop, he turned to face James.

"Here is your Trainer Card," the Professor said, handing James a plastic card that had a microchip in the top right-hand corner, and a digital screen in the centre, taking up most of the card itself. "It contains your unique ID number that will be needed to challenge the Gyms that you'll face along the way. It also contains details of the amount of money that you currently process, and the number and types of Pokemon that you are currently carrying. Just remember to hand it over to the resident Nurse Joy each time you go and heal your Pokemon, and they will update it for you automatically." He also handed over Cyndaquil's Poke Ball. "I guess you won't be needing this much, but I would recommend keeping it with you at all times. Just in case, if you catch my drift." James nodded in understanding. Picking up Cyndaquil from the ground, where it had resting whilst Professor Elm had been talking exhausted from its little exertion earlier, James pocketed the card and turned to leave. However, before he could even turn around fully, he heard a coughing sound, and span in a circle to face Professor Elm again.

"Aren't you forgetting something, James?" he asked. James had to think for a moment before realizing that he had totally forgotten about the Pokedex. He grinned sheepishly back in embarrassment. Professor Elm smiled back before retrieving the Pokedex from the pocket of his lab coat.

"As you well know, this is a Pokedex. It will record all the data of the Pokemon that it is pointed at, including average height, weight, and other such necessary characteristics. It will also provide a short description of the Pokemon in question. Why don't you try it out on Cyndaquil," he finished as he handed the contraption over. James did so, and the Pokedex emitted a bright blue light that totally eloped Cyndaquil before speaking.

"_Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokemon. It is timid, and always curls itself up in a ball. If attacked, it flares up its back for protection. This Pokemon is Male, weighs 8.0 kilograms and is 0.5 meters high_," the Pokedex concluded before shutting down again. James smirked.

"I have to say, Professor, this Pokedex doesn't seem to be correct. In no way shape or form is Cyndaquil timid. Are you?" he questioned as the Pokemon looked up at him. He let out a squeak of his name, seemingly confirming James' assessment. Professor Elm looked amused.

"Well, well, it certainly appears that you and Cyndaquil are already forming a strong bond of friendship with each other," the Professor assessed. "Well, I don't have anything else to say or give to you, except – good luck on your journey, and hopefully, the next time I'll see you, you'll be a powerful trainer with a number of wins under your belt." The Professor held out his hand, and James took it, giving him a firm handshake in the process. James left the lab in high spirits, Cyndaquil snuggled into his owner's arms; with the flames on his back currently out so that they didn't burn James' face.

He was currently debating what to do. On the one hand, he desperately wanted to start his journey right away and try to reach Cherrygrove City before nightfall. Checking his watch, James saw that it was already 11:00 am, far later then he had planned to set out. On the other hand, he really wanted to show his mum his Cyndaquil, which he had decided to name Exbo, but was worried that by trekking to the other side of town, he would have to start his journey the next day. In the end, he decided to make for Cherrygrove City, and call his mum once he reached the Pokemon Centre using one of the videophones that everyone processed nowadays. So with that in mind, he turned westwards, towards Route 29, and officially started his Pokemon Journey.


	2. Chapter 2

_As soon as the two flags had gone down, James went immediately for the Poke Ball that he knew could easily deal with the situation. He had, after all, spent last night looking at Lance's team and probable tactics._

"_Sparky, you're out!" he shouted as he threw the Poke Ball up into the air, releasing the Pokemon within. Once the light had disappeared, the crowd could see that it was an __Ampharos – and a serious one at that, with nothing but a deep frown on its face. A picture of it appeared below James on the four screens. Lance appeared to be intrigued by the choice._

"_I must say, that's certainly an interesting choice for your first Pokemon. Let's see how it deals with my Aerodactyl," Lance exclaimed. Before James could form an argument about the impossibility of using a long dead Pokemon, it appeared on the field before him. And it truly was one hell of a Pokemon. It was considerably much taller than Sparky, with large leathery wings, each with three claws on the end. It had a thick, powerful looking tail with a point on the end of it, and the predator (as that's what it undoubtedly was) was coloured grey all over. But the most distinguishing feature about the Aerodactyl was its head. It had green eyes that had a glint, which James didn't like the look of, and a long snout that appeared to contain hundreds of small, sharp teeth, that James knew could tear anything up within a few seconds._

_All in all, it was definitely a creature to be feared. _

_Lance had a snug look on his face. "She's impressive, no?" he asked James, who was still getting over the shock of how such a Pokemon could possibly be alive. James could only nod as a picture of it appeared under Lance. But he snapped out of it. Such questions could be asked later. He decided what attack he was going to start the battle with, as he knew he couldn't change his Pokemon once they had been sent out._

"_Okay, Sparky, let's use Signal Beam!"_

SC

Heading onto Route 29 for the first time, James felt more than a little apprehensive about going out there all on his own. After all, when he and his mum had wanted to visit any of the cities or towns, they would simply use his mum's Pidgeot to get them there quickly and efficiently. But then, James looked down at Exbo, and knew that he was going to be protected from anything that decided to come their way.

Walking onwards, there was a strong, but refreshing breeze that helped to cool James down from the sun's rays. The tarmacked road that had led onto the route soon enough gave way to dirt and gravel, along with large areas of grass, where James knew there would be wild Pokemon hiding, waiting to ambush anybody who came along. From within the shaking trees on the outskirts, he could hear Pidgey cooing and Rattata gnawing at the bark, but ignored them for the most part. James was debating how to do this, and in the end decided to kill two birds with one stone, and put Exbo on the ground. Exbo looked up at his new owner, confusion plastered on his face. He was greatly enjoying that nap.

"Okay, Exbo, listen up," James said as he bent down to reach Exbo's eye level. "Now, I could tell that you were enjoying that, but this is serious business. I need you on the ground here, so that you can easily attack wild Pokemon when I give the command. Plus," he continued as a smile appeared on his face, "I don't want to have to lug around a pudgy Cyndaquil because he got too lazy." Exbo continued to look up at James, confusion still on his face. He hadn't understood too much of what had been said, but guessed that he wasn't going to get any more free rides, so he prepared for the worst that could possibly happen to him – having to walk everywhere.

With the matter settled, the two of them got underway again. James' confidence was at an all time high, as he believed in Exbo to defeat the wild Pokemon. And that was put to the test when they encountered a Sentret. It was a small Pokemon, although taller than Exbo, due to the fact that it was standing on its tail, in an attempt to make itself look taller. It was brown all over, except for the dark brown rings on its tail and the donut shaped ring on its chest. It was looking at them in curiosity.

James looked down at Exbo. "Okay, Exbo, this is it. Our first Pokemon battle together. Use a Tackle attack," he ordered, and Exbo did as he was expected. He ran forwards, flaring up the flames on his back for extra damage, building up as much speed as he could, before leaping up into the air. The Sentret looked so surprised at the course of action that it didn't move out of the way before Exbo smashed into it, dealing a critical hit and fainting it. Exbo turned around and went back to James, squealing in delight at his first victory. James certainly was proud of him.

"Well done Exbo, you did brilliantly. Have a treat as a reward," he finished as he took off his backpack and rummaged through it. He managed to find what he was looking for, and handed it to Exbo. It was a Poffin, a speciality all the way from Sinnoh. Exbo sniffed the treat, seeing if there was anything wrong with it. Deciding that there wasn't, he took a bite, and an expression of content appeared on his face before he gobbled up the rest of it. James laughed as a result.

"Hey, easy there boy, slow down. I don't want you being sick, okay," he said to the Cyndaquil. Once he had finished laughing, James became serious again. "In all seriousness, Exbo, we really need to get going if we're going to make it to Cherrygrove City in any reasonable time. So let's get moving."

The pair of them did so, ignoring many of the sights of Route 29, as well as the Wild Pokemon that stared at them as they passed by. Although Exbo wanted to fight all of the wild battles that crossed their paths, and thus get more of those delicious treats from his owner, James was having none of it. He tried getting Exbo to get into the Poke Ball, but just like earlier, the Cyndaquil refused to. In the end, James was forced to pick up Exbo and hold him in his arms so that they could make quicker progress. In truth, although James obviously did have a camping set and tent, he didn't particularly fancy the prospect of having to camp out when civilisation was so close. There were several other people of the route, but like the resident Pokemon, James ignored them. Some of them stared at James, curious as to why he was carrying his injured Cyndaquil, rather then it being in his Poke Ball.

It was this way that the two of them managed to reach the outskirts of Cherrygrove City by 10:00 pm, including numerous rests to catch his breath back. Although James had been preparing this journey for a while, including going down to the gym every day, he hadn't prepared to do that. It had been a very long and tiring day for the two of them, even without doing random battles every few minutes, and James just wished to get to the Pokemon Centre as soon as he could, so that both he and Exbo could relax. The only problem was, he had no idea where it was located. James managed to get out the guidebook whilst keeping an eye on Exbo, and found the relevant section. However, that wasn't much use, as the map was titchy and the streets looked like an absolute maze. Plus, there was so little light that he couldn't see much of anything anyways. James became angry at this point, and stuffed it roughly into his bag, yelling in frustration. Exbo looked up at him, a scared look on his face. He had never seen his owner get so angry before, and he wasn't completely sure of what to do. So he did the only thing that he could think of. He flared up his flames, and tackled James in the stomach. The teenager crashed to the ground, the wind totally knocked out him. He looked at Exbo with a mixture of shock and surprise plastered to his face.

"What the hell did you do that for, Exbo?" he exclaimed, anger clear in his voice. When he saw the tears beginning to fall down Exbo's face, he softened up immediately. James stroked Exbo's back a couple of times to get him to calm down. "Look, I'm sorry that I shouted at you before, okay. I was just really frustrated that it's so late, and I have no idea where the Pokemon Centre is. Can you forgive me?" he concluded. Exbo looked back, and then began to lick James' face, causing him to laugh from the ticklish sensation that it caused. He didn't care about the few remaining people on the streets looking at him and the scene in question – all he cared about was that his Pokemon was happy again.

After all that was over and done, James put on his backpack, picked up Exbo, and wondered around the city, looking around for the Pokemon Centre, or at least someone who could point him in the right direction. And that person - or rather, place - came when James very nearly passed a store that was still open at this time of night, despite how few people there were walking the streets. It was called 'The Guide Gent's – all your guiding needs sorted'.

"_This is perfect,"_ James thought as he entered the premises. Compared to the rest of the buildings that he had seen thus far, this place was much smaller, with only a few chairs and potted plants scattered about the room. The walls were a plain white colour, and hosted pictures of the attractions, such as the famous Onix Tower, where, on a good day, you could see for miles around the surrounding area. At the end of it, there was a desk that spanned the whole rest of the room, with tons of leaflets detailing many of the attractions that Cherrygrove had to offer. Behind the desk, there were two old men who were chatting about something whilst in the background; a radio was playing, although James couldn't tell what channel it was currently on. Once they noticed that James had entered, one of the old men stood up and went out back, whilst the other stood up and faced James.

"Hello there, young man. Now, what can I do to help you at this time of night?" the old man asked. James was infinitely glad that the man hadn't treated him as a child.

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me where the Pokemon Centre is located?" The man laughed at his question, and James backed up a little.

"Of course I can tell you where it is. For a small fee, I could also physically take you there, so that you won't get lost." James thought that that was an awesome idea, so he paid the fee, and followed after the guide gent. They mostly walked in silence, the only sounds now being their footsteps and the hooting of Hoothoot on the outskirts of the city, who had woken up earlier, and were now out hunting for food. What felt like an eternity to James and his aching feet, but in fact was only 10 minutes, they had stopped outside of the Pokemon Centre. James thanked the guide man for all of his help, and promised to visit the shop again the next day.

Once inside, James went up to the desk, and managed to secure a room for the night from the resident Nurse Joy. Thanking her, James and Exbo used the elevator to get to the right floor, and managed to find the correct door. Upon entering, James put Exbo onto the ground, collapsed on the bed, and fell straight asleep.

SC

Lyra was doing her very best to open the window without also waking up her uncle or tripping any of the alarms that she knew were placed throughout the lab. In the end, though, the red-haired teenager shoved her out of the way and smashed the window with a brick he had found. Despite this abuse, Lyra looked at him with a smile on her face, happy that she had finally managed to find the one person who she loved, and who loved her back.

Or so she assumed.

Kamon, however, thought otherwise. He was a teenager of medium height, with long, bright red hair and piercing red eyes. He was wearing a purple, long sleeved jacket that had red lining, and well as purple trousers that he always somehow managed to keep immaculately clean and tidy. Him and Lyra had met when they had bumped into each other of the street, and they started fighting because the other had flat-out refused to accept that they had cause the accident. Due to this, they had been forcefully arrested by the police and put into separate cells for the night. Having been to prison many times before, Lyra managed to escape easily, and had released Kamon as well. It was at this point that the two of them had decided to steal the other two starter Pokemon and go on a rampage around town.

Luckily, none of the alarms had gone off, but Lyra secretly hoped that the smashing of the window hadn't woken Elm up. The two of them slowly made their way over to where the Pokemon were located, after Kamon retrieved the brick from the floor, and picked up the Poke Balls. With that done, they made a quick escape before anyone could come and see what had happened, but not before breaking the internal alarms to completely shut down the security system.

A short distance away, hiding down an alleyway, they released the Pokemon from the Poke Balls. They saw that one of them was a Chikorita, and the other was a Totodile. The former looked up at Lyra and Kamon, and started shaking on the spot, as well as shouting her name for anybody to come any rescue her, too scared to even think about running away. But nobody came. Lyra reached and picked it up, and tightly cuddled it in her arms, forcing her mouth shut; causing Chikorita to be in even more distress then it was previously. Kamon guessed that he was left with the Totodile, which as soon as it had been released, ran up to him, and attempted to bite him on the leg. Kamon solved this by bending down and hitting it on the head with the brick he had picked up. The Totodile stopped what it had been doing, a dazed look appearing on its face, before slumping on the ground, knocked out for the count. Lyra giggled at the display whilst Chikorita squirmed about more than ever.

"Well, you certainly do know how to deal with Pokemon, don't you?" she said between her fit of giggles. Kamon had a neutral expression on his face. On the one hand, he wanted to get rid of this annoying bitch as soon as possible and go solo again, helping to make himself less conspicuous. On the other hand, she could be a potential ally in getting rid of Team Rocket once and for all, as he knew that groups were popping up all over the place again, and he wanted to get rid of them before they got too big for their boots. Eventually, he decided that the benefits of keeping her around far outweighed the negatives of getting rid of her – at least at this stage of the proceedings.

"Okay, let's go," he said to Lyra, causing her to stop her giggling fit. He made to move off, but she wasn't following. He turned back round to face her.

"Where are we going?" she asked, curiosity in her voice.

"Out of New Bark Town, where there's less chance of us being caught with recently stolen Pokemon. Got a problem with that?" he question, an edge of menace entering his voice. Lyra rapidly shook her head, and they both moved out of the alleyway, and went in the direction of route 29. She really didn't want to leave the town that she had grown up in, but it looked like she had no choice in the matter.

They were now officially fugitives, on the run from the law for stealing a Pokemon and for escaping police custody.

SC

James stretched out and rubbed his eyes. He wondered why his alarm clock didn't wake him up, and then he saw Exbo sleeping on his legs. The events of the previous day rushed through his head, and he smiled at how lucky he had been to get his starter. James gently nudged Exbo to get him to wake up, and he nearly got his hand burnt when the flame suddenly appeared on Exbo's back and the Pokemon stood and spun around on the spot, looking for who had dared to wake him up at the early time of 8:00 am. It took James a few minutes to calm Exbo down before the Cyndaquil licked James' fingers as a clear sign of apology. James got up, remembered to take his tablets, had a shower and got dried and dressed in the same clothes that he had worn yesterday, before heading downstairs to get some breakfast.

It was only after getting some cereal with freshly squeezed orange juice that James realised that he didn't know what Cyndaquil ate, and Exbo must have been starving as much as he was. Treats were all well and good, but they hardly constituted a filling meal. So abandoning the meal, he went back to the reception area to ask the resident Nurse Joy.

"The best thing to give them," she replied, "is charcoal. Not only does it give them all of the nutrients that they need, but it also helps to boost the power of their fire attacks. Here, let me go get you some," she finished as she went out back, and returned with ten charcoal sticks, bound together with a piece of string. James thanked her profusely, took out one of the sticks, and handed it to Exbo. He chewed on it for a little, before squealing in happiness. Heading back to the dining room, where a few other people, mostly trainers, were also eating, James found that his cereal had managed to go soggy, for he reordered, and enjoyed it much more then he would have before.

After finishing breakfast, James left the Pokemon Centre with Exbo in tow, and attempted to find the Guide Gent's place again, but strangely, he couldn't find it. Shrugging his shoulders in disappointment, he made his way to the Poke Mart, now that there was actually some light to look at the tiny map, to see if he could buy any Poke Balls to start catching some Pokemon. He found it easily enough, as it was near the Pokemon Centre, presumably for convenience sake.

Upon entering, he saw that the shelves were packed full of various different Pokemon merchandise, including Potions, Antidotes and Paralyse Heals. He did a quick scan of the shelves, but the only thing that he couldn't find was some damn Poke Balls. So he decided to ask a member of staff, but not before picking up Exbo and holding him in his arms. He didn't want him to get lost, or worse, crushed in the packed store.

"Excuse me," he said to a member of staff who was packing stuff onto the shelves. He stood up and turned to face James. "Could you please tell me where I could find the Poke Balls, please," he asked. The member of staff looked at him with an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry, sir, but were currently aren't stocking them here at the moment." James had a puzzled look on his face.

"Why not?" he questioned.

"Well, they seem to be proving extremely popular with all of the trainers passing through the city at the moment, you see," the member of staff answered. James was beginning to get irritated.

"What, you don't compensate for something like this happening? What kind of Poke Mart are you, if you don't even have the basic amenities?"

"If you wish to come back in a couple of days, we should have plenty for you to pick from, sir," the staff member replied, trying to calm James down.

"Don't bother. I certainly won't be coming back here again to buy my supplies," James shouted, causing more than a few stares from fellow customers. In the end, he was thrown out of the store by security, and told not to return to the premises again, which suited him just fine.

Once he had managed to calm himself down, James made his way northward enter Route 30. This would eventually lead to Violet City, where his first Gym battle would take place. Just as he entered the route, however, he got interrupted by his mobile buzzing about in his pocket. Curious as to whom it was, James saw that it was from Professor Elm. He pushed the button to accept the call.

"Ummm, hello Professor," James spoke. He could hear a lot of noise going on in the background.

"Ahhh, good of you to have answered, James. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to detail a proposition for you."

"Okay, Professor, go ahead."

"Excellent. Now, I have a friend who goes by the name of Mr Pokemon." James thought this as being very bizarre, but he kept quiet for the Professor's sake. "He could be considered an all round expect on aspects of Pokemon, such as personality and how that affects growth and development. Anyway, I received an e-mail from him this morning saying that he had something interesting he wished to show me. Unfortunately, as soon as you left, I had to leave myself on a business trip to Saffron City, and thus, I won't be able to see what he wants to show me. Essentially, I want you to visit his house, and pick it up for me. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Professor. I'll do that right away."

"I knew I could count on you James. Now, I really must be going, as according to my wife, I have to be back at my lab as soon as possible, so I'll leave you to get on with the task. Ohhh, and one more thing. I sent you a map application via Bluetooth, so that should make your journey much easier. Bye, James, hope to see you soon." And with that, he cut off the connection. James stared at the phone, not entirely sure what had just happened. He just wanted to get on with the journey, but he couldn't do that now that he had given Professor Elm his word. And anyway, it wasn't that much of a deviation from the way he was going anyway. So James set off again with Exbo by his side.

Along the way, James allowed Exbo to fight many of the wild battles that they encountered along the way in the tall grass patches, gaining experience as they went along. These fights mainly consisted of Caterpie and Weedle, along with a Pidgey and Rattata scattered about here and there. Caterpie was coloured bright green with large startling eyes and an antenna on top of its head. Weedle, however, was bright yellow, with a huge purple nose and purple feet, with a vicious stinger on its tail. After one particular battle, where a Caterpie managed to tie Exbo up with its String Shot attack, before Exbo burnt the webbing away, the Pokemon managed to produce a copious amount of smoke without also producing fire from its mouth. James was so proud of Exbo that he gave him another Poffin as a reward.

Continuing on, the two of them came across a battle that was in progress. It was between a Pidgey and a Rattata, and neither opponent looked prepared to back down any time soon. James decided to watch for a while, but after 15 minutes, he grew bored when nothing exciting was happening any time soon. As they were blocking the way forward, James had no choice by to head to the right, where, according to the map on his mobile, Mr Pokemon was located. There were many patches of grass along the way, but James didn't mind, and neither did Exbo, by the look of things.

In the end, they did manage to find the house, and now James knew why Professor Elm had sent him the map application with it specifically pointed out. The house blended so well in the edge of the forest that if you didn't know that it was there, then it would be extremely easy to miss. It was entirely made of wood, with vines and other foliage growing around it, although James could see that they were controlled where they could grow. To the side of the door, there was a plaque, which said 'Mr Pokemon's House – Please Knock'. So that's exactly what James did. The man who answered the door could only be the man himself. He was tall – considerably taller than James at least - and had a big bushy beard. He wore casual jeans and a tee-shirt which said 'The Greatest Authority of Pokemon on the Planet' in a circle that surrounded a Bulbasaur.

"Well, you must be James?" he asked. Professor Elm had obviously phoned ahead in advance.

"Yeah, I am. It's nice to see you, Mr Pokemon," James said as the man held out his arm for a handshake. James took it, and practically felt all of the bones in his hand break. He tried to hide the pain that he was feeling at that moment, but the man apparently noticed as he laughed.

"There's no need to call me that. You can call me Adam. Only true boffins bother to call me Mr Pokemon," he said as he led James into the house. Or rather, cabin, as it consisted of one room, with a bed in the corner, a stove and what could be called a kitchen in another, whilst a desk was plonked in the centre of the room. Scattered about were loads of magazines from many different countries, such as Hoenn and Sinnoh, including the official magazine from each of the Region's Pokemon Fan Club. The only things that James could see that was remotely electrical was a laptop of the desk, where somebody was apparently working on it, typing furiously away; and the lamp by the bedside table, where there was a thumping big egg underneath. James wondered what that was all about.

"Welcome to my humble abode, James. As you can see, I don't exactly live a life of luxury, but I much prefer it this way then having the paparazzi constantly on your ass all day, every day. Anyways, I'm sure that you don't want to hear me go on and on about my personal life, so I'll show you what I want to show Professor Elm," he finished as he made his way over to the egg and brought it back and handed it to James. Now that he was up and personal with it, he could see that the white shell had blue and red triangles on it. James could feel it moving about a little, but not much to cause any concern. He wondered why Adam wanted Professor Elm to look at it.

"Not to be rude or anything, but this looks just like any other egg. What's so special about it?" James asked.

Before Adam could speak, however, the man in front of the laptop spoke up. "This egg is not from either the Kanto or Johto Regions, meaning that it must have come from either Hoenn or Sinnoh. Therefore, I am emailing Professors Birch and Rowan to get their opinion on the matter. I hope to get a reply shortly," the man concluded. When he looked up from what he was doing, all he saw was a young man simply standing there, opening and closing his mouth like a Magikarp, hands by his sides, with his Cyndaquil looking up at its owner in confusion. Luckily, Adam managed to rescue the egg before it smashed onto the ground. "I'm Professor Oak, the regional Professor from Kanto," he said, trying to get the young man's attention. That didn't work, so the man got up, and tried clicking in front of James' face. When the young man still didn't respond, Professor Oak wasn't sure what to do. So Adam went over to the kitchen area, filled up a bucket full of cold water, came back and threw it all over James. That seemed to do the trick.

"You're _the_ Professor Oak! I absolutely love your radio programme – you're always so informative and filled with useful information! I especially love the parts where you go over where swarms of particular Pokemon can be found. I'm your number one fan!" James concluded eagerly, leaving an awkward silence hanging in the air. The Professor wasn't exactly sure what to say.

"Ummm, thank you, I suppose. Appreciated. Moving on, as I was saying before, Adam here asked me to look at it after he received it from one of the Kimono Girls in Ecruteak City when he went to visit a short while ago. However, I personally have no idea what it could be, which is why it is being sent to Professor Elm via yourself. He is the ultimate authority on Pokemon breeding, and would definitely know about this kind of thing," Professor Oak finished. James nodded, the gravity of the situation becoming apparent.

"Okay, Professor Oak, I understand. You can trust me to look after it," James replied. Adam handed the egg back to him, and he made room in his backpack for it. After a while, it was firm and secure with absolutely no chance of it being able to fall out. Whilst this was happening, Professor Oak said that he had to leave to record another one of his shows in Goldenrod, and although James was greatly disappointed to see him leave, he knew that the Professor was a busy man. So, after staying for lunch and feeding Exbo some charcoal, James left Adam to his own devices, stating that he wanted to get back to Professor Elm as soon as possible.

Shortly after leaving, James felt his mobile vibrating in one of his trouser pockets. Wondering whether it was his mum after realising that he had broken his own promise to call her last night, he saw with some surprise that it was Professor Elm again. Accepting the call, he heard sounds of a lot of people moving about, and wondered if he was still on the Magnet Train. When the Professor spoke, however, he immediately became concerned.

"J-james, thank goodness that I managed to get a hold of you. Something terrible has happened." There was definitely a sound of distress in the Professor's voice. "The l-lab has been broken into." James let out an audible gasp. The lab was the most secure facilities in New Bark Town at least, primarily due to its importance. It had all of the latest security systems automatically fitted to it for free, and there was no way that anybody could have gotten in without anybody else knowing. James was stumped as to how it could've been accomplished.

"Did the bastards manage to steal anything, Professor?" James queried. That's when he heard the Professor begin to cry.

"T-they stole the other two s-starter Pokemon," he said.

With that, James ended the call and made his way to Cherrygrove City, Exbo following behind him, not understanding the situation at hand.

SC

Kamon and Lyra had finally made it to Cherrygrove City. They had spent last night traversing Route 29 in the dark, causing them to stumble and fall about a lot, as well as being attacked by numerous Hoothoot. Lyra had been forced to use her Chikorita to fight them off (as Totodile was still unconscious), but when the Pokemon had refused to attack, or do anything for that matter, Lyra gave her an incentive by clawing one of her long nails down the poor Pokemon's back, causing it to squeal out in pain and managing to draw blood. Kamon simply watched on, unconcerned by what was happening. After that, the Chikorita had been willing to battle, even managing to learn how to create leaves from the leaf on its head and throw them at opponents.

Once they entered the city proper, Kamon headed straight for the Pokemon Centre, Lyra followed behind, feeling totally exhausted.

"Can we stop and have a break soon? My feet are serious aching," Lyra whined, but Kamon ignored her. He was more concerned about whether they had been caught out yet. By the looks of things, they hadn't.

"It doesn't look like we've been found out yet," he whispered to Lyra, conscious about anybody overhearing them. "So heal your Pokemon, take a nap, and we'll leave as soon as." Lyra didn't say anything as she made her way over to the reception desk, where the Nurse Joy was waiting. She placed the Poke Ball on a tray where other Pokemon were waiting to be healed. Once done, she went over to one of the seats facing the large window, sat down, and was about to fall asleep when she saw someone running past. It was none other than James, with his Cyndaquil in tow. Suddenly feeling wide awake, she sensed an opportunity to cause him even more distress like she had yesterday. She therefore grabbed her Poke Ball from the batch of others and went outside to challenge him to a battle.

She called up to him and he turned reluctantly around to face her, as he knew that he wouldn't be able to do anything else otherwise.

"How's your Pokemon, James? Is it coping alright?" she mocked. James could hear Exbo growling menacingly at Lyra, flames popping up on his back. James bent down and scratched Exbo behind the ears.

"We're doing fine, thank you," he answered as he stood up again.

"Ohhh, are you now? Well, in that case, I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" she shouted she threw a Poke Ball up into the air and released a Pokemon James recognised as Chikorita. He noticed that it was very worn out and tired, and that it had a scar on its back. James realised that she must have been the one to have stolen the two Pokemon. At the announcement, people were beginning to watch with interest. James was definitely getting a feeling of déjà vu about the whole situation.

"Ugggh, fine then, it looks like I have no choice. Let's go Exbo," he moaned as the Pokemon in question walked forwards.

"Chika, use Razor Leaf!" Lyra shouted, but all the poor Pokemon could do was feebly swing its leaf around and throw the resulting leaves only a few feet away, before collapsing to the ground, defeated. This caused Lyra to become extremely angry, and attempt to kick the Pokemon for its uselessness, before she remembered that she was in a public place, forcing her to have some restraint. This caused James to smile smugly.

"Well, it doesn't look like you're up to your usual standards, does it?" James rhetorically asked as Lyra beat and stamped her feet into the ground. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be off to the nearest police station to have you arrested for stealing two Pokemon." And with that, James walked off, with Exbo in tow. But before he could get too far, he heard a male voice calling out his name. Turning around, he saw a red headed teenager wearing a purple jacket and trousers walk up to him. The teenager stopped a short distance away.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that. The name's Kamon, and I'll be the one to beat you and your Pokemon into complete and utter submission." With that, he released the Totodile that had managed to regain consciousness within the Poke Ball. James guessed that he had worked with Lyra to steal the Pokemon.

"I'm guessing that you and Lyra stole those two Pokemon together, ehhh," James accused, pointing his finger at the teenager, loud enough for the entire crowd to hear. The teenager just 'hmphed' in response.

"What businesses is it of yours? Totodile, use Water Gun," Kamon ordered. The Pokemon stood up, and managed to master enough energy to produce a jet of water from its mouth, hitting Exbo where it hurt most, before either trainer or Pokemon could respond. He was thrown back from the impact, and slammed hard into the ground. He gave a squeal of pain, and James rushed up to him.

"Exbo, are you all right?" James asked, fear in his voice. Exbo managed to stand back up, evidence that he wanted to continue the battle. But before he could, James heard a girl yelling at someone. Turning around to see what was happening, he saw a girl slap Kamon right of the cheek, hard enough to draw blood.

"How could you do that to your Pokemon, you bastard? Making it fight like that when it's clearly hurt and injured." Turning towards Lyra, the teenage girl looked at Lyra right in the eye. "And that goes for you two," she shouted. Lyra looked like she wasn't sure what was happening, but she did know that she wanted to get as far away as possible. Kamon apparently had the same idea.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" he yelled as he ran past the girl, grabbing Lyra's hand in the process. She made no objections, and the two of them ran as fast as possible towards Route 30. Glad that that display was over, James picked up the injured Exbo, and made his own way over to Route 29. It wasn't too long, however, before he realised that somebody was following them. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that it was the teenager from before. Now that he had a chance to look her over, he could see that she was wearing tight, yellow spandex shorts, a sleeveless red tank top, and what appeared to be a lab coat on top of that. But it was her hair that truly caught his attention. It was bright blue, and the ponytails were gelled so that they stuck out behind her head.

James tried to hide the laughter that was trying to come out, but couldn't hold it in for very long, and let it all out. But she didn't appear to be in the laughing mood, and in fact, appeared to get even angrier then she already was.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, laughing at me whilst you're Pokemon's gravely hurt!" she yelled at James. That seemed to snap him out of laughing, and become serious again.

"For your information, I'm heading to New Bark Town to tell Professor Elm exactly who stole his Pokemon. And no-one – not even you – is going to get in my way." With that, he shoved passed the girl, and continued on his way. Having heard the explanation, the girl's expression softened, and she decided to help him in any way she could. With that decided, she ran after him, and once he had caught up, jogged beside him.

"Let me help you out any way I can," she requested. James looked sideways at her as he slowed down to a walk.

"And why would you want to help me?" he asked.

"That's easy. To make up to what I said to you back there," she responded.

"Are you a trainer?" he questioned. She nodded.

"Yeah," she answered. "I only have Marill on me at the moment, but that should be more then enough to deal with the wild Pokemon here."

"Okay, fine," James said. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Crystal. Crystal Elm."


End file.
